Many emerging infectious diseases in humans, including those caused by Ebola virus and H5N1 avian influenza, are zoonotic (Morens et al., 2004, Nature 430: 242-249). Given the close phylogenetic relationship between humans and non-human primates (NHPs), humans are especially vulnerable to cross-species infections from pathogens harbored in apes and monkeys (Pedersen and Davies, Ecohealth 6: 496-508). The risk of disease transfer between NHPs and humans may be greatest in hotspots such as the forests of central and West Africa and the Amazon basin, where humans come into frequent contact with a diverse range of closely related species of NHPs (Pedersen and Davies, supra). Zoos and research facilities housing captive NHPs also represent settings in which cross-species transmission of emerging pathogens can occur (Chen et al., 2011, PLoS Pathog 7: e1002155; Miller and Fowler, 2012, Fowler's zoo and wild animal medicine: current therapy. St. Louis, Mo.: Elsevier/Saunders. xviii, 669 p.; Murphy et al., 2006, J Zoo Wildl Med 37: 219-233).
Adenoviruses (AdVs) are double-stranded DNA viruses that naturally infect a broad range of vertebrate hosts, including humans and NHPs (Wold and Horwitz, 2007, Adenoviruses. In: Fields B N, Knipe D M, Howley P M, editors. Fields Virology. 5th ed. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 2395-2436). In humans, infections caused by AdVs include conjunctivitis, gastroenteritis, hepatitis, myocarditis, and pneumonia (Wold and Horwitz, 2007, supra; Lewis et al., 2009 J Infect Dis 199: 1427-1434; Louie et al., 2008, Clin Infect Dis 46: 421-425. Members of the genus Mastadenovirus, which encompass the AdVs infecting primates, have been classified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) to include the 7 human AdV species A-G (HAdV-A to HAdV-G) and 1 simian AdV species A (SAdV-A) (Harrach et al., 2011, Family Adenoviridae. In: King A, Adams M, Carstens E, Lefkowitz E, editors. Virus Taxonomy: Classification and Nomenclature of Viruses Ninth Report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. San Diego: Elsevier. pp. 95-111. Recently, members of a phylogenetically distinct AdV species group, SAdV-B, were also discovered in fecal samples from asymptomatic captive rhesus monkeys (Roy et al., 2012, Emerg Infect Dis 18: 1081-1088). Although AdVs are conventionally thought to exhibit a very narrow host range due to co-evolution with their respective hosts (Wold and Horwitz, 2007, supra; Roy et al., 2009, PLoS Pathog 5: e1000503), there is mounting evidence supporting the potential for cross-species transmission of AdVs between monkeys and humans. AdVs identified in fecal samples from NHPs were found to share a remarkable similarity to human strains, and could be classified phylogenetically into the conventional “human” species groups HAdV-A through HAdV-E (Roy et al., 2011, supra; Wevers et al., 2011, J Virol 85: 10774-10784). Large-scale serological surveys have detected antibodies to monkey AdVs in humans living in endemic regions (Ersching et al., 2010, Virology 407: 1-6; Xiang et al., 2006, Emerg Infect Dis 12: 1596-1599) Furthermore, a novel AdV, titi monkey adenovirus (TMAdV) was previously described as the cause of a fatal outbreak of pneumonia and hepatitis in a colony of New World titi monkeys, which was also associated with a cross-species respiratory infection in a scientist investigating the outbreak and household family member (Chen et al., 2011, supra). A need remains to identify NHP adenoviruses and determine which of these viruses can infect humans.